


seven

by Silver_Mokey



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Childhood Friends, Sad Spencer Reid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:01:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25890262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Mokey/pseuds/Silver_Mokey
Summary: Spencer gets a call from his childhood bestie and is late to a briefing. Which causes the team to think that he’s in some form of trouble. And the new case doesn’t help Spencer’s mental state.
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I literally fell asleep listening to folklore and this popped into my head at 2a.m. So I wrote it down. I’m not a good writer, at all. Plus I wrote this at like 3am. So don’t expect much from me from that aspect. I just felt like writing a story. That’s it.
> 
> P.s. folklore is the best. Thank you T.S.  
> The words underlined are lyrics from T.S.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Spen. Can you pick me up? Please,” she asked in a hushed voice.

“What,” he said, genuinely confused. He slowly started to sit up from his bed. He looked over at his clock to see that it read 2:15am. “Where are you?” Spencer slowly stood up from his bed.

“I’m at the police station. I need your help” the girl on the other side of the phone said before adding a little embarrassed laugh.

The man who picked up the phone finally understood the importance of the situation.

It wasn't abnormal for him to get a phone call during the middle of the night. He was used to people calling him while he was asleep, but that was when they had a case. He just wasn’t used to it when she called. She never called him at night. He was always the one to call her.

“What happened? Are you hurt? Did you get arrested? Please for love of everything, tell me you did not get arrested. I mean seriously,” he stopped. He was frantically putting on a pair of jeans and grabbing a random shirt from his bedroom floor. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not hurt,” her throat started to make a choking sound. She started to cry through the phone.

“I’m on my way,” he said quickly.

He quickly hung up and dropped his phone on his bed. He finished putting his shirt on while he was walking over to his dresser to find socks. He pulled two different colored socks out of a drawer and quickly put them on his feet.

Running to his apartment door as fast as he was able to. He opened it as he grabbed his car keys on the table that stood beside his door.

He took two steps into the hallway when he noticed he didn’t have shoes on. He quickly turned around and reentered his apartment. He was so focused on finding his shoes that he wasn’t paying attention to his actions. Sliding and throwing anything that was in his way. He finally found his converses underneath his couch. When he finished slipping on his second shoe, he was out of his apartment running to his car.

If he wasn’t terrified he would have remembered to lock his door or to grab his phone before he left. However, he was terrified. He was terrified that the girl on the phone was in some kind of trouble. He didn’t miss the fact that when he asked if she was okay she only said that she wasn’t hurt.

His mind was wandering to thoughts that he never wanted to think about. _Was she attacked? Assaulted? Robbed?_ He didn’t want to think about that. He already thinks too much about it. When he opens a case file and sees someone that has the same color hair as her, he always has to send her a text. A way for him to be able to calm his thoughts.

His mind jumps to the worst places, and he hates it. He has known her for most of his life and he couldn’t think of his life without her. She was his companion. Always and forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a 2 in the morning writing session.

They met when he was ten and she was five. It was the first summer he was sent to spend with his mom’s sister in Pennsylvania.

He only met his aunt a few times before at random family gatherings. His aunt Beth was the complete opposite of his mother. While his mom was married with a kid, his aunt was single and always ready to mingle. Beth was a few years older than his mom and she was a free spirit.

She lived in western Pennsylvania in a small city. She didn’t have a house that was made for a child. She had glass vases everywhere and small trinkets on every flat surface.

However, she did have a small backyard with a fence made out of bushes. Thus her bush fence made her think that it was the safest spot for her nephew. Outside in her backyard.

The first few days he didn’t know what to do. He just sat on a lawn chair and read some of the books that his aunt had bought him.

The books themselves were made for kids his age, but he wasn’t like the kids his age. He was smarter. His lack of interest in the books were increasing with every page he turned. Although he conuited to make himself read them.

They were about a group of kids turning into pirates on a mission to find the lost treasure. Each book had a different treasure for the kids to find. The books were prediable, and he didn’t like that.

It wasn’t until the fourth day of him sitting outside reading the books that something changed. There was screaming. Children screaming. He looked up from his book to try and figure out where it was coming from. What he saw though was not was he expected.

He saw two younger girls running from a house that was on the street behind his aunt’s house. The girls were laughing and running towards him. No, they were running towards the house beside him.

He spent the rest of that day watching them. He was fascinated with them. They were so different, but yet they fit perfect together.

The first girl was loud and the leader out of the two. She was small but quick. She tried to climb on everything while the other girl would yell at her to get down, but she would just convenience the other girl to do it with her. Confidence radiated from her.

The second girl was the creative one out of them. She would start every sentence with the words pretend or imagine. This girl acted more mature for someone who seemed younger than the other girl. Spencer had also noticed that she was also nervous about everything. Everytime her friend did something that she wasn’t supposed to do she would start to fidget and somehow distract the girl into doing something else. She was clever.

Their dynamic was interesting to young Spencer. He rarely got to play with kids his age or even interact with any. That’s the reason why he hasn’t stopped watching them. He was intrigued with their ability to change from one activity to another. They were playing tag, then singing songs, then looking at the sky watching the clouds, then playing make believe, then swinging on a swing that hung from a tree, and then climbing that tree.

That's the moment when he got caught watching.

It was the second girl that noticed him. She looked at the first girl and pointed at him. For a minute Spencer was confused. They pointed at him and frowned. He wasn’t used to that. He was used to being laughed at. While he was trying to figure out what they could possibly be sad about, the girls climbed down the tree and walked towards him.

The girls somehow convinced his aunt to let him go into the first girls backyard and play. It was weird for Spencer. He wasn’t used to socializing with anyone. It also didn’t help that they were younger and girls.

He just sat there for the rest of that day in the girls yard while he watched them play. Although he didn’t say a word to them, they still found a way to include him in the game.

The game was inspired by the books he was reading. The girls became pirates and he became the lost treasure. One of the girls would hide him and the other would have to try and find him. The girls would have to fight like two rival pirate crews before they could steal him away.

That night he fell asleep with the biggest smile he has ever had.

The next day was almost the same, except he was in the first girl’s backyard the whole day and interacting with them. That was also the day when he found out the girls' names.

He found out the first girl's name was Sabrena when her older sister yelled for them that it was time for lunch. She lived with her parents and her adopted siblings, who he had met during lunch. Spencer had also found out her age from that same sister. Sabrena was seven years old.

The second girl's name was Mari. She was five years old. She was spending the summer with her grandparents that live in the house behind them.

Throughout the summer the three of them were always together. Even had sleepovers at each of their houses. The only times when all three weren’t together was when Sabrena had to go to some family outing or function. Or when Mari had to go have dinner with her parents and siblings, who lived twenty minutes away. Even when one of them was gone, Spencer still had the other one to play with. He was happy.

Then August came. Mari’s birthday was in August and she had a big birthday party. It was the first time he met her family or been to her house.

Since Sabrena and him went to different schools they were able to meet some of Mari’s other friends from school. Some of them were nice and others one Spencer knew were going to be trouble in the future. Which they were.

After the birthday party Mari was gone for a couple of days. Spencer didn’t feel too sad about not having both girls with him but then Sabrena had to leave one day and he spent his first real day without either of them. That’s when he realised that summer was almost over. He was going to have to go back to a school with older kids who couldn’t care less about him. He didn’t want to feel lonely again, but he was. So when his aunt found him outside looking at the tree in Sabrena’s yard. She knew what she was going to have to do.

That’s how he found himself waiting in line for ice cream with his aunt. After they got their order, she led him to a picnic table and decided to start a hard conversation with him. He expressed to her how he felt with both of them gone. He told her that he didn’t want to feel lonely again. He talked about how they made him happy and he didn’t want to stop being their friends. That’s when she told him that he didn’t have too.

So he didn’t. Before August slipped away and they all had to go their separate ways Spencer made sure to get their addresses and phone numbers. Throughout the school year whenever he felt sad or lonely he would call them. If one didn’t answer he would call the other one. He was always able to talk to one of them. They were best friends. They would also send letters to each other. Sometimes when Spencer felt really sad the girls would start including a photo in with the letters. They would include one of the girls with a silly face on them or one of them doing something really funny. Spencer always felt better when he saw them.

But then his dad left. He didn’t have to hide in his closet anymore. Yet, he cried on the phone for hours with Mari just telling him it’s okay. It’s okay because he still has his mom and that he still has them. Spencer always was so conflicted in that moment because how could a six year old understand something that he couldn’t, and he was a genius. The idea of her understanding scared him, because what if she leaves him. _How could she understand leaving like a father?_

Then summer came again. His aunt decided that he was a kid who needed to be a kid. So she hired a caretaker that would live with his mom, while he was living with his aunt.

Every summer was like the first until the summer before he turned sixteen. That was the last summer he had with Sabrena. They moved in the middle of July. He had always thought it would be Mari who would leave, he never thought Sabrena would. He was devastated by it. He had never mentally prepared himself for Sabrena to leave.

The rest of that summer was spent with Mari. They spent most of their time at her grandparents house watching old movies and trying not to cry about Sabrena moving away without anyway to stay in contact.

The next few summers changed. He was always with Mari. Even if she had to go home, he was always right beside her. Which made for some awkward situation when they were out by themselves. He was a tall 17 year old and she was a short 12 year old. Lucky most people just assumed that they were family. Or they were too focused on his college degrees to even think that it was weird for a 12 year old to be out by herself with a 17 year old, because when you are young they assume you know nothing.

Spencer didn’t care for what others thought about their friendship. He was happy. She was happy. That’s all that mattered.

They were there for each other.

He was there for her when her other grandmother passed away, when her brother got in a serious car accident, and when one of her sisters decided to run away to live with her boyfriend.

She was there for him when he got stressed about college, when he had put his mom in an institution, and when he met a FBI Agent named Gideon.

They made a vow to each other after Sabrena left them. To always be there for eachother forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forever & Always is a bop.


	3. Chapter 3

It took Spencer 54 minutes to get to the police station that Mari was at. It only took him the first five minutes of driving to eliminate other stations and figure out which one she was at. The rest of the ride he was stuck thinking about their conversation throughout the week and what could have happened between the last time they texted to when she called him earlier. 

Their text conversation was from the day before, saying that Mari was still going out to a new bar with her roommate Courtney. He had told her to be safe. _Did I jinx her safety?_

Mari had just turned 21 a couple of days before, but since it was on a Thursday she was waiting until Friday to officially go to her first bar. It wasn’t like she hadn't had alcohol before. Mari was going into her final year of college at the University of the District of Columbia. So she had been to a few parties that may have had adult beverages.

She never would outright say that the parties had alcohol or not. He understood why she wouldn’t say it. He was a feral agent, and she was underage. But now that’s not the case anymore.

Courtney had suggested that they go to this new bar that had a modern indie vibe. Courtney had been wanting to go to this bar for the longest time, only because her ex boyfriend worked there. She wanted to prove to him that she was moved on from him. That she was happy and healthy. Considering he broke up with her because she was too depressing. Mari agreed to showing that jerk what a beautiful human being he had lost due to his flawed judgment. 

The week before she texted Spencer about their plan to go out drinking. She invited him to come along, he agreed. Then that Tuesday he ended up on the BAU jet on his way to a case in Utah.

The case took longer than he would have liked. The first few days the team was chasing dead ends. The team was all irritable because of that. Although Spencer knew that Morgan was taking it worse then all of them. 

On Thursday he was staring at the map that was pinned up to an evidence board in the station's conference room. He never looked away unless it was to look at his phone. Spencer was checking his phone every ten minutes waiting for an update from Mari. She was supposed to text him to let him know she was home from the random errands she had to go do.

_Did she forget? I should just call her. I can’t focus on this case until I wish her Happy Birthday anyways._

That was his last thought before he grabbed his phone and left the room. He exited the building and walked until he felt like no one would hear him. He never wanted to mix his personal life with his professional life. 

Spencer was too worried about wishing Mari happy birthday that he didn’t even notice that he gave his team something to talk about.

Morgan was sitting in a chair two feet away just watching Reid. He noticed that exactly every ten minutes Reid would look down at his phone. Reid never seemed satisfied with what he saw, because he would make a little pout then quickly return back to the map. Then after Reid makes his last little pout he just decides to turn around and leave the room. 

“Was anyone else watching him,” Morgan asked the other members of his team.

Rossi catches his eye and nods. “I wish he didn’t leave. I’m curious about what his face would be when he received whatever he was waiting for,” he said before laughing.

Prentiss joined in laughing alongside Rossi. “What do you think it was?”

“Well whatever it was it made him leave the station,” said JJ as she walked into the room with a new file. “I think I found the missing connection.”

The connection that JJ found led to a stakeout that lasted until noon of the following day. The case was able to be wrapped up quickly after that. Spencer was able to fall asleep peacefully in his own bed right before it turned eleven. However the peacefulness didn’t last long.

As he pulled up to the station, all of his thoughts seemed to have vanished when he saw her sitting on the curbside in front of the police station's doors. He hurriedly parked his car and got out. He locked it as he was running up to her. “Mari!”

She looks up at him with tears falling and red spots all over her face. Mari quickly stood up and readied herself for his embrace. 

“What happened,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Me and Courtney were on our way home, and then this dude came out of nowhere,” she stopped for a second to catch her breath. She starts explaining again with another tear running down her face. “He was drunk and hit us.” She begins to look up at Spencer. He quickly wipes away her loose tears and holds her closer. “Courts in bad shape. They took her to the hospital and I have no idea if she’s okay. They brought me here to make a statement since I was the only one to walk away.” The more she talked the higher her voice got. “The man who hit us died on impact, apparently. Court is probably getting surgery right now and I’m fine.” Spencer knew that she was starting to send herself into a panic attack.

This wasn’t her first panic attack. Spencer just reacted like every other time something bad happened. He told her to focus on him, on his breathing. He readjusted her to be closer to him. They stood like that until she had shead her last tear.

After she stopped crying they broke the hug. Afterwards they found themselves quietly getting into Spencer’s car. He drove them to the hospital that Mari said that they took Courtney to.

The car ride consisted of Spencer telling Mari jokes and about how Derek pranked him during the past case. She gave a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She looks over at Spencer and says “Why?”

“Why, what?”

“Why are you telling me stories that makes you seem stupid?”

He looks over at her, “Because.”

She shifts in her seat to face him, “because why?”

“You weren’t laughing at my jokes. So I’m still trying everything to get you laughing at me,” he said in the softest voice he could muster. He wanted her to think of something else besides her friend’s unknown condition. 

Mari gives him a small laugh. “Thank You.”

Once they got there Mari practically sprinted to the nurses station and respectfully asked the condition of her cousin. Spencer always admired how she was able to go from one emotion to another. Panic to calm. How she was able to read a situation and adjust herself to it. At least, on the outside.

The nurse was able to tell them that Courtney was in surgery because part of the car door got embedded into her leg and her hip got smashed. Which led to Spencer and Mari sitting in the waiting room. They were patiently waiting for any new update. Admittedly, it was four in the morning and they both had a long day so when the nurse came to inform them of Mari’s _cousin_ ’s condition they jumped wide awake.

“Her surgery went well, but she hasn’t woken yet.” The nurse continued to tell them that it was normal for her not to be awake yet. She needed to give her body time to rest and heal on its own. 

“Visiting hours begins in two hours,” the nurse said before turning around and walking away.

Mari was looking relieved with a huge smile across her face. But her smile dropped when she looked over at Spencer. “What’s the matter?”

“What time is it?” 

Mari looked at him with a confused facial expression. “Why don’t you look for yourself?” Yet, Mari still pulled her phone out of her back pocket and looked at the screen before saying “It’s 6:37.”

If Mari wasn’t confused before then she most definitely was now. Spencer had wide eyes and was stuck with a deer in headlights look on his face.

“I’m sorry, but I have to go. Like I have to go right now,” he said while standing up. “Are you staying here or do you want me to drive you back to your apartment?”

“Umm, I think I’ll stay here. I’ll just get a taxi or something later.” She looked up at him and said “Why do you have to leave in such a hurry?”

“I don’t have my phone. I left it on my bed.” Mari just stares at him while her head slowly tilts sideways. “My team has no way of contacting me. Plus we were supposed to have a meeting at eight to discuss the lastest case.”

Mari finally was able to put the pieces together. 

“Then what are you waiting for?” She stood up and gave him a hug with a kiss on the cheek. “Go  get in the car , and text me when you get home.”


	4. Chapter 4

It was close to seven in the morning when JJ’s phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID and instantly her whole body became tense.

“This can’t be good,” she whispered to herself.

And it wasn’t. She had a new case. She hated it for two reasons. One being they just got done with a case not even 24 hours ago. The second reason being it was located in her hometown.

She was having a bad week.

Her body was still tense while she called to inform Hotch that they have an important case. The tension still didn’t leave when she tried to call Reid and he didn’t answer. Not even when she called the rest of the team.

So when she was sitting in the BAU’s conference room still dazed and tense, the only thing stopping her from completely freaking out was her team. Expect she hasn’t been able to reach one of them. That wasn’t helping her feel better at all.

Luckily Derek Morgan told her to stop trying to call him, “I'll pick him up before we leave.” He sat down in his chair and picked up the case file.JJ happily agreed and she stopped calling him. 

“I’m sure he is just out cold. The last case was really stressful for him,” she said.

After everyone, except Reid, was sitting down in the conference room she started explaining the case.

The case involved four victims: three females and one male. All the victims had graduated the same year from the same high school. JJ’s high school. When she mentioned that small detail everyone turned to her. 

“Oh! My poor baby. Did you know them,” Garcia asked genuinely upset.

“Yes, actually. The male victim was one of my high school friends' younger brother,” JJ said as she pressed a button and made a picture pop up on the screen. “I met the other victims my senior year when I helped out with the middle school soccer team. I was an assistant student coach the same year as this photo was taken. The first two victims were best friends.”

“Is there a reason why you are only showing that year's photo?”

JJ looked at Prentiss and nodded “Yeah actually. This was the only year that victim number four played. She quit the next year,” JJ said with a sad look on her face.

After that everyone started to talk about what the motives of the unsub could be. Satisfied with the idea that it was some form of jealousy they started to pack up. Within five minutes everyone was leaving the bullpen.

Everyone was going straight to the airstrip, but not Morgan. Morgan had to go pick up his pretty boy first.

Morgan pulled up to Reid’s apartment a few minutes later. He took his time as he climbed his way up the stairs to get to Reid’s floor. He only stopped when he was in the eyesight of his teammates apartment door. Reid’s door was cracked open. Instantly Morgan made a move for his gun and started to slowly creep into Reid’s apartment. When Morgan opened the door wide enough for him to slide through, his stomach dropped. What Morgan saw was disturbing to him. Before he let himself get distracted he went to clear the rest of the apartment.

Books were askew. Papers littered the floor. His couch was sideways with the pillows being on the opposite side of the room. The worst part was that there was no Reid. 

_ What happened?  _ Morgan couldn’t think of anything else.

Morgan pulled his phone out of his pocket and called his boss.

“Hotchner.”

“Hotch something is wrong,” Morgan said as he spotted Reid’s phone lying on his bed.

“Hold on I’m putting you on speaker. What do you mean something is wrong,” Hotch questioned. Hotch had just entered the jet with everyone else. As soon as Hotch said that sentence everyone's eyes became glued on Hotch and his phone.

“I mean that Reid’s apartment door was open, and his apartment is trashed. Also there is no Reid. He’s not here. His phone is here, but no Reid,” he said while walking back into the living room. Morgan started walking in circles as he wiped his hand over his face. He was scared for his friend.

“Does it look like someone tried to take him? Or was it, um, something else,” Prentiss asked.

“I don’t know. It could be either. His couch was moved so I would say maybe a struggle. But I honestly can’t focus. I’m too worried,” he said while putting his own phone on speaker and sitting it down on Reid’s desk. He looked back at the mess. It only seemed to be within the living room area. 

Morgan didn’t know what to think. He was afraid that Reid was being held against his will again. On the off chance that he wasn’t kidnapped, then that means there was a good chance he was using again.

However, Morgan wasn’t able to think about his pretty boy being high because he was interrupted by someone.

“Morgan? What are you doing here? How did you get in?” Spencer started to look at Morgan’s face and saw that his face showed worry. “Is everyone okay?”

Morgan didn’t know what to do. Standing in front of him was Spencer, but it also wasn’t his Spencer. This Spencer was dressed in fitting jeans and a t-shirt with his hair somehow looking like it was styled. This Spencer also had a Starbucks coffee cup in his hand.  _ Since when was Spencer Reid normal?  _

“We have a case,” Morgan said. “You weren’t answering your phone, so I came to pick you up. Then when I get here I see your door open,” Morgan started to get mad. He was worried thinking that his teammate was dead somewhere, but in reality he was off getting Starbucks. 

Reid didn’t know what to say to him. He just stood there trying to form a sentence to explain what happened, but he wasn’t able to. Reid could tell that Morgan was pissed at him.  _ Why couldn’t I have just grabbed my phone? _ He was so disappointed in himself that he didn’t even notice that his lack of communication was only making Morgan angier. 

_ And now he’s  _ _ cursing my name _ _. _

“Next time you leave to go get your Starbucks, take your phone with you. I’ll meet you outside in five minutes,” Morgan said with bitterness. He grabbed his phone and walked right past Reid to go to his car.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team was shocked and confused by what they had just heard. Spencer was okay, but he was a  godforsaken mess . The fact that Spencer was okay still didn’t settle well with the rest of the team. They all shared nervous glances that all lead them to have the same worry.

_ Was he using again? Why would he leave his phone? Did he black out? Why was his place trashed? _


	5. Chapter 5

Morgan refused to talk to Reid during the drive to the jet. Reid understood why Morgan was mad. He wasn’t thinking this morning when Mari had called him. He just needed to get to her. 

After Morgan had left, Reid took a minute to take in the sight of his apartment. He saw the way his couch was pulled backwards with books and papers covering his floor. Instantly he knew that it didn’t look good.

Reid felt bad that he made Morgan worry about him. He scared him. His grief caused him to set a record for how fast he repacked his bag. He made sure that he grabbed everything that he needed, especially his phone.  _ Not going to make that mistake again.  _ Even double checked that his apartment door was shut and locked before he raced out to Morgan’s car.

Reid had tried to explain his cover story to Morgan, but Morgan just shook his head and turned up the radio. Reid felt rejected by the idea that his teammate didn’t want to hear anything he had to say.

He was used to the team's rejection when it came to him talking or explaining something. Whenever it really affected him, he would just call Mari. She always knew what to say. Forever helping him understand and accepting the differences between him and his team. It took awhile for him to realize when it was appropriate to spiel information at others.  _ She always helps me.  _

Whatever he was feeling because of Morgan, was doubled when Reid stepped onto the jet. Morgan had already stomped his way onto the jet taking the seat beside Hotch. Rossi and Prentiss sat across from them. JJ was sitting on the couch beside them. With his head down Reid took the first seat by the door. 

He felt like all eyes were on him. Hotch and Rossi gave him critical judgement stares, while Prentiss gave him worried looks. JJ didn’t even bother looking at him. Reid just looked down at his lap. He felt their disappointment in him.

Reid knew that they probably thought he was using again. That his cravings were winning over him. Spencer wanted to run out of the jet, but he couldn’t. He had a case. Although, that didn’t stop him from missing Mari. She understood him. His team did not. 

_ You knew it still hurts underneath my scars, from when they pulled me apart _ _. _ Spencer just sat in his chair feeling blue. Stuck reminiscing about all the times where the team had said something or done something that caused his self-hatred to flare up.

Hotch didn’t know what to expect when Morgan angrily made his way to the seat beside him. Hearing him mumble about how careless the boy was.

Hotch was most certainly not expecting to see a wild haired Reid wearing jeans with a t-shirt that said ‘Sarcasm is one of my many talents’. He almost didn’t recognize Reid. Looking over at Rossi proved he wasn’t alone, because Rossi had the same expression on his face. They had a silent conversation that ended with both of them coming to the same conclusion.  _ Something was going on with Reid. _ When they looked back at Reid, he just sat in the seat farthest from them. They knew that he was trying to hide himself from them. Trying to hide his problems.

Ten minutes after they were in the air, Hotch asked Prentiss to give Reid his case file. Hotch figured that Reid wouldn’t feel the need to close himself off if it was Prentiss who made contact with him first. As if Prentiss could read his mind, with a quick nod she grabbed the file and stood up.

Walking down the aisle Prentiss noticed how Reid’s leg was bouncing up and down.  _ He’s nervous _ . 

“Hey, Reid. Here your file,” she said as she took the seat across from him.

Reid snapped his head up to look at who just said his name. He was confused as to why she was being so normal with him. After all, he did cause them to delay the jet by ten minutes.

“Oh, um, thanks.” He slowly reached for the file, but as soon as he was about to grab it Prentiss pulled it back towards her.

“Are you okay?” She was concerned for her teammate. He seemed almost scared of her. Scared of the team.

He stared at her for a few seconds before he wiped the emotions off of his face. “Yep, all good. Thanks for the file Prentiss.” He reached over and snatched the file out of her hand. Then proceeded to open the file and started reading.

Prentiss was stunned. She felt hurt that he had the need to hind behind a mask instead of expressing his feelings to her.  _ He’s exiling himself. _

All she could say was a quick, “Your welcome,” before she stood up and made her way back to her own seat.

When she looked at the other profilers beside her, she noticed that Hotch and Rossi were disappointed with how her and Reid’s conversation went. Morgan never even realized she moved. He was too invested in his music, that was way too loud.  _ Why does he feel the need to blast Justin Vernon?  _ She also noticed that JJ had curled in on herself as she laid on the couch.  _ I guess it’s not just Reid we should be worried about. _

That’s when everyone's attention went from Reid to JJ.

Prentiss just sat back in her chair watching JJ as she slept. Waiting patiently to see if JJ would start breaking down and would need Prentiss. For that reason alone Prentiss had all of her focus on the blonde girl.  _ If I can't help Reid then I most certainly can help JJ. _

Hotch was trying to plan out who should be paired up with who. He knew that Morgan and Reid were not going to work. Prentiss was too worried about JJ. Hotch didn’t want to have to deal with whatever drama that Reid was going through during the case. He already decided he would deal with that when they got home. So he came to a decision.

Morgan would go with JJ. That way JJ didn’t have to worry about trying to hide her emotions because Morgan would be too mad about his morning with Reid to even notice if JJ was breaking or not. Then that way he would have a better chance at watching JJ without her having her guard up.

Rossi would go with Reid. Hotch believed in Rossi’s abilities. He knew that Rossi would be able to work the case while also trying to figure out what was going on with Reid.

That left Hotch partnering up with Prentiss.

With all of the emotional turmoil everyone was experiencing the jet grew quiet. It was a half hour later that the first sound was heard within the jet. A sound that caused JJ to wake up and for Morgan to pull his headphones out. The startling noise was coming from the other side of the jet.

**_But I knew you, dancing in you Levi’s. Drunk underneath a streetlight-_ **

Reid quickly grabbed his phone from his back pocket and answered it. Not even paying attention to how everyone was watching him, because for the second time that day he was solely focused on his phone. Nothing else mattered when he heard that ringtone. Only her.

“Hey”

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Anything new?” Spencer began to run his fingers through his hair. Leading his head back against his chair while closing his eyes.

“She woke up for like ten minutes. She’s in a lot of pain so the docs gave her some more pain medication.”

“That's good right? She woke up. I mean the fact that she was-,” he stopped himself when he heard Mari shouting in the background of the call. “What’s happening? What was that?” Spencer started getting nervous. He sat up straight, feeling the need to run. He felt like he needed to get to her, to protect her. But then he calmly sits back again when she says that she's okay.

“Don’t worry, it was just some stupid  idiotic fool who doesn’t know how to watch where there going.” Spencer laughed at her.

He finds it refreshing how she says something in a repetitive way, and he always laughs when she says the word idiotic. It’s like her signature word.  _ At least when she’s talking about someone else. _

He loves the fact that she doesn’t try to sound different around him. Most people try to use their limited knowledge on higher vocabulary words to sound as if they are on the same level as him. He gets it all the time from Rossi and Morgan. He knows that they don’t mean to do it, but it’s still bothersome to him. Mari and Garcia are the only people who don’t do that. 

“Maybe you should calm down,” Spencer says with a grin.

“Why should I? It was his fault,” she practically screamed the sentence behind her as she was walking down the hospital hallway. She made eye contact with the dude before exiting the hospital doors.

“ You need to calm down, you're being too loud .”

“Whatever! Anyways I’m calling to let you know that she’s gonna be okay. She has a lot of PT in her future but other than that she’s good! And I’m getting an Uber to go home,” she said as she shut the door of her Uber after sliding in. Mari made sure to say that loud enough for her driver to know that someone knows where she is. After all she knows how messed up some people are.

“Okay make sure you text me when you get there,” he said. His leg stopped bouncing. Most of the tension that filled his body flooded away.

_ She is safe. Courtney is okay. Mari won’t have to worry anymore. And thankfully no funerals for them, at least I hope so. Considering no one is ever really safe. Especially me. _

“Will do boss kid,” she said with a wicked grin.

Spencer's whole attitude changed as he heard her.  “Don’t call me kid. ” His voice became deep as he spoke.

“Will do boss baby,” laughing to herself.

She thought back to when Spen and her had gone back to her hometown for Easter earlier that year. Her little sister had made him watch the movie ‘Boss Baby’ three times in a row. By the end of his torture, Spencer had deemed all babies evil.

However, that didn’t stop him from holding her baby nephew. No matter what he says, Mari knows that Spencer loves kids.

“ Don’t call me baby ,” he said as he put his head down into the palm of his hand. He leaned forward onto the table in front of him.

“Will do boss man.” After she had finished saying that she hung up on him.

Spencer sat in disbelief that she hung up on him. “Rude,” he muttered as he pulled his phone away from his ear and put it on the table. It wasn’t until he took his hand off of his phone that his attention began to refocus on his surroundings. Realizing that he wasn’t alone caused him to quickly whip his head up to see all of the BAU’s profilers faces.

They all just sat in their seats looking at him with bewilderment.

**_Sorry can’t come to the phone right now_ **

Spencer looked down at his phone.

**One new message: I’m home Boy Scout.**


	6. Chapter 6

Spencer was able to deflect all the looks his team gave him by expressing worry over the new case. He was somehow able to switch all of their attention to JJ and the new case.

That’s how he found himself sitting at a table flipping through files of the victims. It had been three days since they first landed, and they just found a new victim. Everyone was out looking at the crime scene and talking to the victims family, while him and Rossi were stuck at the local police station looking for some type of connection other than their main soccer lead.

However, Reid wasn’t able to focus. He couldn’t help having flashbacks to his summers when he had both of his girls. It didn’t help that the last two female victims reminded him of Mari and Sabrena. 

It had been awhile since he had been emotional about her. However, his emotions have been all over the place the past couple of days. He went from scared to happy. Joy to content. Bored to sad. Depressed to anger. Now his madness is turning into nostalgia. 

_I remember it all too well_

A tear had fallen from his eye. He didn’t even realize that he was crying. The single tear had landed and ricocheted off of the top of a picture of the latest victim. The victim that looked too similar to Sabrena. It was probably one of the last photos that contained the now dead girl smiling.

“You okay Reid?”

Reid had mentally slapped himself for letting anyone on his team see him like this. Before he lifted his head up, he wiped his face to get rid of any other wetness. 

“Yeah, I think. I think I’m going to go get some food. I’ll bring you back something.” Spencer quickly shut the file and left the room before Rossi could say anything else.

Rossi’s worry grew bigger as he watched the young man race out of the building. It started when he was watching Reid quietly working his way through the case. The young man would only talk if it was important or related to the case. The boy’s attitude was starting to scare Rossi.

Rossi has always viewed Reid as a son. He had always hoped that his own son would have grown up to be like Reid. A good man. _But now that good man might have become a troubled boy._

As Spencer briskly walked away from him, Rossi’s phone started to ring. He looked at the caller ID as he picked it up. Hotch.

_He’s not going to be happy about that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that this was from a dream I had. It's not meant to have a huge plot line. If it did it would most certainly be slower. 
> 
> Also keep in mind this is written at like two a.m. (it's the only time I will not feel weird about writing) and I already suck at writing. With that said the rest of the story will be posted soon. 
> 
> Plus... evermore is a darling :)  
> Bye sweets.


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